Breakfast at Tiffany's: #2: Man-Food Meatballs :)

Hey Tiff,

Its generally not a good start when you're washing the dishes and discover a crack in your Tupperware :(. But the good smell in my house a few hours later more than made up for the lousy beginning.

Joey asked me to help out with small group food this week, and he'd originally planned to do spaghetti and meatballs. Since his birthday is this week and he likes MEAT, I stuck with his plan, but I opted for NOT settling for the jar of sauce from safeway and the meatballs from the freezer section. While I admittedly reach for the pre-made stuff on occasion, food you make yourself tends to be better-tasting, healthier, and more cost effective. Plus its FUN.

These are super easy and there are a lot of ways to change up the flavor if you want to have them with spaghetti, with cranberry sauce (Swedish meatball style) or in various forms for appetizers. If you want to make another kind, just use the basic ingredients to make your meatball, and google whatever kind of meatball you want to make to figure out the seasonings. I used ground beef for these, but you can also use turkey, pork, etc- or even a blend of these.
If you don't want to make these every time, make a big batch and freeze them for whenever you're in the mood! Yay for man-food!

The basics:

Prep time: 20 minutes or less depending on how big you make your meatballs (bigger ones will take longer to cook)

Good for leftovers: yes! Freeze for next time too!

Servings: about 4 per lb of meat, but these are smaller servings. If you're not having a hefty meal, I would double the portion size.

Cost: about $5 for 2 lbs if you use lean ground beef, this will vary depending on what kind of meat you choose.
$$ Saved: $3-$5 (premade meatballs frozen usually run between $4-$6 per lb at Safeway)

Ingredients (for any kind of meatball):
1lb ground meat
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup soft fresh bread crumbs OR 1 slice of bread

Italian-style seasonings:
1/4 cup grated cheese (I used cheddar for one batch and parmesan for the other)
1 TBL oregano
1/2 tbl basil
a pinch of rosemary
1-2 tbl minced garlic (depending on how much you like garlic! I love it, so I can never have enough)
1 tsp salt (optional)
olive or canola oil spray

The Process:
Mix all ingredients including seasonings together in a medium-large bowl. If you are using a slice of bread, you'll need to run some tap water over it to soften it, then tear it into smaller pieces before adding it to your mixture.
When everything is well blended, shape it into little balls, whatever size you want. You want the balls to hold together, but you don't want them firmly packed as this will leave the insides dry once cooked. Place your meatballs on a dinner plate and microwave for about 3 minutes. Spray a skillet with non-stick olive or canola oil spray, and fry the meatballs until browned on all sides. Serve hot or freeze for later!